A New Front in the Encryption Wars
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A new front in the encryption wars has recently opened: how providers of end-to-end encrypted communications (E2EE) services can and should moderate unwanted or unlawful content. In a well-intentioned but problematic effort to address the sharing of such content with children, Apple recently announced changes to its Messages service that make a reality of what CDT has long feared — the creation of backdoors that break E2EE.
The groups disagree with Apple’s claim that its iMessages will remain end-to-end encrypted, and that its changes are privacy-protective ways to address abusive content on E2EE services. A new CDT report, Outside Looking In: Approaches to Content Moderation in End-to-End Encrypted Systems, defines E2EE technology and clarifies what we should expect when a provider asserts their service is E2EE. It also identifies methods for detecting unwanted content while still preserving the security and privacy guarantees of E2EE, as well as those that fundamentally violate those guarantees.
When it comes to successfully moderating content on E2EE services, there are significant opportunities for research and innovation. The availability of secure encrypted communication services is central to privacy, free expression, and the security of today’s online commerce, and companies should offer their users messaging and secure file storage without laying the foundation for censorship, surveillance, and persecution on a global basis.
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In Case You Missed It
— In a new report from CDT, we look at how “bossware” tools — which allow supervisors to automate the task of surveilling employees and squeezing productivity from them — threaten worker privacy, health, safety, and well-being.
Our report discusses how current legal protections, if enforced and implemented more strongly, could help shield workers from some of the most harmful effects of bossware while workers wait for lawmakers to enact more comprehensive protections. We also make recommendations for policymakers, enforcement agencies, workers, advocates, and employers, and call for additional legislation and regulation to fully safeguard workers.
In a follow-up blog post, Senior Policy Counsel Matt Scherer explains why the use of bossware can make it difficult, if not untenable, for companies to classify workers as independent contractors.
— In an amicus brief in Twitter v. Paxton, CDT and a coalition of five other civil society organizations argue that when a state attorney general demands an investigation targeting an online host in retaliation for its content moderation practices, that demand will pressure the host into self-censoring even before it is enforced. The technical issue in the case is whether Twitter can challenge the demand itself as a violation of its First Amendment rights, or whether it must wait until the attorney general moves to enforce the demand. The Court’s decision could affect the ability of online hosts to make important and timely content moderation decisions.
— CDT Senior Technologist Will Adler encouraged federal and state lawmakers to put systems in place before the 2022 midterm elections to ensure that post-election audits are rigorous and unbiased, and to prevent or discourage bad post-election audits such as the one happening in Arizona and others gaining steam across the country. Post-election audits can reveal real problems with an election, or boost confidence that electoral systems worked as intended — but an ongoing, partisan audit in Maricopa County, Ariz., shows that they can also be abused and seriously undermine trust in democracy.
— Following revelations that Pegasus spyware made by the Israel-based NSO Group was found on the phones of activists, journalists and heads of state, CDT joined scores of civil society organizations and experts around the world in urging governments to regulate the export, sale, and use of technology being used to break into cell phones and other digital devices.
The letter calls on governments to investigate the sale and export of such technology, to require human rights due diligence and transparency by companies that manufacture it, to subject such companies to independent oversight, and to establish or strengthen redress mechanisms for people who are harmed by unlawful surveillance.
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CDT in the Press— "Once they’ve built this door, the policy choices that are designed to limit how it can be used are insufficient to provide the level of security that was previously provided," said Sharon Bradford Franklin, co-director of CDT's Security & Surveillance Project, speaking to Axios about Apple’s plans to subvert end-to-end encryption in its messaging service.
— “It’s like using someone else’s computer or using a computer that you either trust or own to connect to the internet on your behalf,” CDT Chief Technology Officer Mallory Knodel told Politico, discussing VPN use in Cuba and Cubans being able to make “informed choices about how they want to use the internet and what they want to use it for.”
— "This expansion of the [Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism’s] hash database only intensifies the need for GIFCT to improve the transparency and accountability of these content-blocking resources. As the database expands, the risks of mistaken takedown only increase," Emma Llansó, Director of CDT's Free Expression Project, told Reuters. She discussed the broadening of the types of extremist content that tech companies share to a central database of content that has been removed from their services, which is used to identify, review, and remove the same content across other sites.
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CDT "in Person"
—Last month, the Centre for Democracy & Technology and the Global Network Initiative (GNI) hosted a high-level panel discussion on the EU Digital Services Act seeking concrete solutions to how we can apply human rights due diligence to content moderation. You can learn more about the event and watch the recording here.
—CDT is currently accepting applications for our non-residential Fellows program. We are looking for researchers from diverse disciplines and backgrounds advocating for digital rights. The Fellows program is a great opportunity for researchers to inform our policy advocacy work and to engage with policymakers in the U.S. and EU. You can learn more about the program, including how to apply, on our Fellows page.
— Have you listened to the latest episode of our podcast, Tech Talk? Join host Jamal Magby in a conversation on Apple’s planned changes to its messaging and photo services in the United States aimed to prevent the abuse of children. Here to explain what these changes are and why they are so concerning are CDT’s own Mallory Knodel, Chief Technology Officer, and Greg Nojeim, Co-Director of CDT’s Security and Surveillance project.
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Partner Spotlight
CDT is proud to partner with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to support schools as they navigate student privacy during the ongoing global pandemic. Our Equity in Civic Technology team has issued guidance from everything from how to center privacy and equity as schools enter the new school year, to how to prepare for and avoid ransomware attacks. We also advocate for the inclusion of communities in decision-making and mitigating bias in algorithmic systems. You can learn more about the Equity in Civic Technology team, as well as stories from the field, in our Tech Tales series.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is dedicated to building a more inclusive, just, and healthy future for everyone. You can learn more about them and their work on their website.
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Staff Spotlight
Iverna McGowan, Director, Europe Office of CDT
How long have you been working in digital rights? I have been working in human rights for the best part of fifteen years. The digital angle was always there, whether it was working to protect human rights defenders from government surveillance or the use of drones under international humanitarian law. However, it has only been really the last three years, firstly with UN Human Rights and now with CDT, that my focus has switched exclusively to digital rights — but always with that international human rights law lens.
What is your proudest moment while here at CDT? I have not yet been a year at CDT, but already there is a number of standout moments. We are working to grow CDT Europe, so it has been wonderful to welcome firstly such a strong new European board with such strong public interest credentials. CDT Europe has also increasingly taken a leading role in civil society efforts to ensure that human rights stay at the centre of the EU’s Digital Services Act, and that we ensure that end-to-end encryption is protected. I am so really excited about the brilliant new colleagues that will join my team this autumn, and am proud that we have attracted such top talent.
What is the best book you've read recently? Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute. It is a really interesting book on leadership. The main premise of this book is how, as leaders, we can actually be blind to our own underlying prejudices or motivations that can lead us to unwittingly sabotaging the effectiveness of our work. I enjoy books that challenge the way I approach things and help broaden my perspective.
Cats or dogs? Both! No, really, I take this quite far. Our cat is a Maine Coon (huge and very cute), which are known as the dogs of the cat world due to their love for playing fetch, and their ability to do tricks like giving the paw, rolling over, etc. With my schedule, having a dog full-time is challenging, but I volunteer for a wonderful not-for-profit called ‘Dyadis’ here in Belgium that trains and prepares dogs to be assistance dogs for people with disabilities. Extremely proud of the last dog I took part-time care of and trained, Woody the golden retriever, who just graduated from training school this summer and has already been sent to his new home.
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